Young, 53, is unopposed in the general election on June 2 because no Republican has filed to run.

Young is a Pentecostal minister, former county commissioner and paramedic who led the county ambulance service for nearly 20 years.

The community of 7,300 is 56 percent white, 40 percent black and 2 percent American-Indian, U.S. Census Bureau demographics indicate.

On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers -- one black and two white -- who were registering voters in Philadelphia were murdered, an event that captured headlines across the country and was depicted in the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning." In a 1967 trial, seven of 18 defendants were convicted of conspiracy. In 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Klansman, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 60 years in prison.

"This shows a complete change of attitude and a desire to move forward," Young said.

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